I don't want to nearly come to blows with some feminazi like I almost did in New York in '04.

You damn protesters are like the unpopular kids in high school who crash a party you're not invited to.

Stay home and play video games. It's for the best.

Quoting: Guns n' God

In a way, the idea of the first amendment and the right to free speech and assembly has become even a more distant concept for the Republican convention in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul.

I've been meaning to start a thread about it. Still will, but the news out of Denver ought to thoroughly disgust believers in freedom and civil liberties in America for the time being, so it can wait.

But it deserves mention on this thread, what's going on in the other convention city besides Denver?

Well, here in Minneapolis, are supposedly progressive and liberal City Council recently passed an amendment to the city's long standing policy on policing of public assemblies.

They voted to allow the use of rubber bullets on protesters!

Yep, you heard me right. The elected officials of Minneapolis recently voted to allow the use of rubber bullets on protesters. Just in the nick of time for the Republican convention, now less than a month away.

These elected officials, sworn to uphold our Constitution, also found it in their infinite wisdom to do away with the Minneapolis ordinance, which happened to require providing medical attention to injured protesters.

So in this formerly progressive city, the politicians thought it a grand idea to gun down protesters with rubber bullets, and then deny them medical attention.

What country is this that I'm living in?

It's the USA. And there are people who are still concerned about civil rights and civil liberties, and they came out, and they protested and disrupted a meeting with the Minneapolis Mayor Rybak and there was a slight change of heart among the elected officials of Minneapolis.

Rubber bullets on protesters are once again banned!

But unfortunately, the new amendment that denies medical care to injured protesters still remains in place.

If you plan on protesting in the Twin Cities, you might want to bring your band-aids and aspirin, because if you're injured, you ain't getting no medical care from the city of Minneapolis. According to their heartless, soulless politicians.

I'm a pretty positive person on the powers of democracy and the future of this country. But all the maneuvering from our local politicians in anticipation of this Republican convention, to restrict civil liberties and freedoms, and institute a police state agenda, you might want to think twice about the idea of hosting a Presidential nominating convention in your home city. Because your formerly progressive politicians might end up showing an entirely different face. It is a democracy, and the residents of Minneapolis are going to remember these politicians who throw our civil liberties to the wind when we go into the ballot box this November.